


Afternoon Light

by kiyala



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 14:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7895347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's an afternoon just like any other with absolutely nothing out of the ordinary when suddenly, Kai's world feels like it tilts on its axis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Afternoon Light

It's an afternoon just like any other with absolutely nothing out of the ordinary when suddenly, Kai's world feels like it tilts on its axis. 

He's standing at a card fighting table at Card Capital, with Aichi across from him, as has come to be the norm for him these days. He looks up and there's something about the way the light of the afternoon sun filters in through the windows, catching in Aichi's hair, in his eyes, that steals Kai's breath away. 

For a moment, it's all he can do to just stare at Aichi, completely forgetting about the fight that they're in the middle of. 

"Kai-kun?" Aichi prompts him with a polite smile. It's a beautiful smile, Kai thinks to himself. This can't possibly be the first time he's noticed just how beautiful it is, when he's seen it so many times in the past, but it's never made him feel this way either. 

He doesn't know why it's only just hit him now. It makes no sense, but he can't tear his eyes away. 

"Kai-kun," Aichi says again, but he sounds concerned this time. He lowers his hand of cards, placing them facedown to the side of the table. He's frowning as he asks, "Are you feeling okay?" 

Kai honestly doesn't know how to answer. He doesn't think that he is, but he can't explain it to Aichi. He can't even explain it to himself. He blinks, shaking his head a little, trying to pull himself out of his thoughts. 

"Sorry," Kai murmurs, glancing down at the table and taking in the state of their fight. "No guard." 

Aichi draws two critical triggers with his twin drive, winning their fight. He smiles, gathering his cards up and putting them back into his deck box. "We'll play again when you're feeling better. Would you like me to get you some water from the vending machine outside?"

Kai hesitates for a moment, and then nods. "Please."

He takes a seat, as Aichi runs out to the front of the shop, and does what he always does when he feels something that he doesn't entirely understand: he broods over it.

The fact that Aichi is important to him isn't something new or surprising. He's known it for a long time, and he suspects that he's actually felt it for even longer. He's certain that Aichi knows it, but he's suddenly gripped with the certainty that Aichi doesn't know _just_ how important or special he is. Kai has no idea how to fix that. 

"Here you go," Aichi says, walking back inside holding a bottle of water. He waves off Kai's attempts to pay him back, sitting down beside him with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Kai replies slowly. He has a good idea of what he needs to do next, and that's a little comforting. 

He sits there with Aichi, the two of them spreading their decks out and rearranging them back into order in companionable silence. Kai sips from his bottle of water, because he notices the way Aichi keeps checking on him, and they bid each other goodbye as the sky begins to darken.

Stepping out of the shop, Kai does what he usually does when he can't figure his feelings out on his own: he talks to Miwa about it.

"So tell me what happened," Miwa says, a while later as he lets himself into Kai's apartment. 

Kai, setting the table with food for both of them, sighs quietly. "I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. I don't know how to explain it. One moment I was in the middle of a game with Aichi and then the next, I…"

He thinks of the way Aichi looked in the afternoon light again, and feels his heart clench up. He sighs quietly. "I don't know what happened. I couldn't stop looking at him. I don't think I wanted him to look away from me, either." 

Miwa snorts quietly, and Kai looks up with a frown.

"I'm sorry," Miwa says, but he's grinning. He doesn't look sorry at all. "I mean—it's really taken you this long? To realise that you have feelings for Aichi?"

"Of course I have feelings for Aichi," Kai replies, frowning deeper. "I feel that he's important to me. He's my mate. We're all mates, aren't we?"

Miwa sighs, walking over to Kai and patting him on the shoulder. "Kai, I think I need to inform you that you have a crush on Aichi. No, I don't think that really does it justice. You're probably in love with him. I'm pretty sure that's what you felt this afternoon when you looked at him." 

"I'm in love with Aichi," Kai murmurs softly, testing the words out. They settle in his chest, like an undeniable truth, and he nods to himself, satisfied. "I love Aichi."

"I thought you already knew," Miwa says, sounding a little apologetic. "I was just leaving it to you to do something about it at your own pace, but I probably should have given you a little push to realise it earlier."

"It's fine," Kai shakes his head. "I don't mind, realising it the way I did. It felt nice."

Miwa snorts quietly, picking up the serving spoon and dividing the food Kai has cooked into two bowls for them "Imagine how nice it's going to feel when you actually tell Aichi about it."

"Should I?" Kai asks, and Miwa looks like he's going to throw his bowl across the table. "But what if he doesn't feel the same way?"

"He does," Miwa replies, without the slightest doubt. "You should tell him. It'll be good for you both."

Kai honestly means to, but when he sees Aichi the next day at Card Capital, he finds himself at a loss for words. 

It's not just the afternoon light, Kai realises as he stares at Aichi. He looks beautiful no matter what time of day it is, no matter what kind of light he's in. 

Kai is in love. It's an easy enough fact to accept, now that it's been put into words for him. He loves Aichi, and he thinks back, to Aichi saving him from Link Joker, and then of him saving Aichi from the seed of Link Joker in return. He thinks of everything that's come before that, and everything that's come after. 

He's in love with Aichi, and just like he hadn't realised how beautiful Aichi's smile was until yesterday, it's yet another obvious fact of life that he's been blind to until now. 

Aichi looks at him with a smile, and Kai's heart stutters out an unsteady beat that throws him off balance for a moment, leaving him still struggling to find his words when Morikawa walks into the shop and challenges Aichi to a game.

At the very least, it gives Kai the time to sit there and watch them—to watch Aichi, really, because that's the only place where his attention is focused right now. None of the other details matter.

"I know you're jealous that The Greatest Morikawa isn't challenging you to a fight today," Morikawa says, "but stare all you want, it's not going to change."

Kai turns his gaze to Morikawa for the briefest of moments, looking unimpressed, before he he goes back to watching Aichi.

"We'll play against each other later, Kai-kun," Aichi says with a smile, and while it appeases Kai a little, it's not entirely about that, either.

He wants to spend time with Aichi, he realises. Even when they're not playing vanguard together. Even when it has nothing to do with vanguard at all. He just wants to be with Aichi.

Aichi is quick to defeat Morikawa, and he's so unfailingly polite about it that Kai is impressed. As Aichi turns to him, though, Kai gets to his feet.

"I'm going for a walk," he tells Aichi. "To the park down the street." 

With that, he pockets his deck box and leaves, his hands resting in his pockets as the breeze blows through his hair.

"Kai-kun!" Aichi calls out from behind him, hurrying to catch up. "Slow down. You wanted to walk together, right?"

With a smile, Kai slows his pace, letting Aichi fall into step with him. It's a pleasant day outside, and they walk in silence while Kai gathers his thoughts, trying to figure out the best way to put them into words.

He waits until they're at the park, walking past the empty benches and under the trees, and he clears his thought. "Aichi. I'm in love with you."

Aichi stops walking, turning to Kai with wide eyes. 

"I think I should have realised sooner," Kai continues, stopping as well. He turns to face Aichi, frowning a little. "I don't think I'm good at this, but now that I know how I feel, and why I feel the way that I do, I can't ignore it, Aichi. I had to tell you."

"Kai-kun," Aichi says softly, smiling as he reaches for Kai's hand. His fingers skim across the back of Kai's hand hesitantly, before he pulls back. "Me too. I love you. But maybe you knew that for a while."

"It took me longer than I should have," Kai smiles, turning his hand around so he can take Aichi's fingers into his own, curling around them and holding them close. "Were you waiting for me to realise? Did I make you wait for long?"

"I just wanted you to do everything in your own time," Aichi replies, his fingers warm against Kai's hand, his smile even warmer. "I didn't mind waiting." 

They continue walking, their hands still joined, swinging between them with every step they take. Kai hums in thought. "Perhaps I should have realised, after you disappeared."

"I'm sorry," Aichi says softly, and it's become a reflex these days, for him to apologise the moment their battle against the Link Joker seed is brought up.

Aichi never likes hearing it when Kai does the same for Link Joker in the first place. 

"I must have felt it then," Kai murmurs, ignoring the apology. "I was willing to burn as many times as I needed to, if it meant I could bring you back. Is that what love is?"

"I loved you then," Aichi's voice is whisper soft, his eyes downcast. "I loved you and I wanted to see you again, as much as I knew that I shouldn't."

"We've fixed that now." Kai steps closer, cupping Aichi's face in both his hands. "Nothing can keep us apart, if we don't want it."

Aichi smiles, his hands resting on top of Kai's. "I don't think _anything_ could ever stop you, from anything." 

"The same applies to you." Kai kisses his forehead. "We make a good match."

"Kai-kun," Aichi says, sounding a little embarrassed. 

"You're being very formal," Kai murmurs, kissing the tip of Aichi's nose. "Considering how close we are."

"Kai," Aichi says this time, his voice trembling a little.

Moving his lips to hover over Aichi's mouth, Kai hums quietly. "Try again."

"Toshiki," Aichi breathes, and Kai kisses him, as if he can taste his own name on Aichi's lips. Their kiss is soft and tentative, lingering because neither of them are willing to pull apart. Aichi's hands are holding onto the sides of Kai's jacket, the two of them kissing again and again until they lose count, until they're breathless. 

Kai wraps his arms around Aichi's waist, pulling him close. He isn't entirely sure how to articulate the fact that he doesn't want to let go of Aichi at all, but he doesn't seem to need words for it anyway. Aichi understands, resting his head against Kai with a soft, content noise. 

This is everything that Kai has ever wanted, he realises. Perhaps he's only just realised how to put it into words, but he knows now, with Aichi in his arms, that this is exactly what he's wanted all along.


End file.
